Facing the Past
by The Foolish Author
Summary: It took years for Axel to escape the small town, but now with his brother’s wedding coming up, he’ll have to return and face his past, including the boy he left behind. Akuroku.
1. Chapter 1

**Does anyone else think the summary was cheesetastic? When I read it all I could think was "It sounds like the back of some awkward romance novel."**

**Disclaimer: **I do not own.

**Chapter 1**

Axel never thought he'd be back in this small town. It had taken him four long years of hard work to do it, but he'd graduated high school and gotten accepted to college with a full academic scholarship.

Twilight Town was one of those tiny, suffocating towns in the boondocks, where most of the people who were born there never escaped. It was a place where their parents and parents' parents had grown up and lived, and where Axel had desperately needed to escape.

Axel's father had knocked up his mother in high school and then drove out of her life on his motorcycle shortly after. She was left with a set of twins, an unfinished high school education, and little to no money. She had done her best raising the boys, Axel and Reno, and even though she was more often than not inebriated, she cared and wanted the best for them.

Reno wasn't like Axel at all, he loved Twilight Town. He loved knowing everyone that lived there, and being surrounded by the people he grew up with. He never felt like he was drowning or choking or suffocating in his life. Not like Axel did.

So as soon as graduation was done, Axel packed his bags and fled the small town, never once looking back. Until now, that is.

It had been five years since his escape from Twilight Town. He had graduated from college and had just started work at a construction company. He had studied architecture and construction in school and figured that before he could start his own business he'd need to get some experience (and money).

Life was really just starting for him, which is, of course, when his past came knocking. Axel never expected anything special in the mail, just the usual bill or advertisement, so he was overwhelmed with surprise when he received an envelope with an invitation to his brother's wedding. He read and re-read the card in amazement. Reno was getting married at twenty-three. Axel thought that it wasn't really that strange, especially in a small town, but he couldn't imagine himself in the same predicament.

Wondering vaguely who Reno was even marrying he grabbed his phone and dialed his brother's number. The phone was answered after only one ring.

"Hello?" Reno's voice came over the receiver sounding no different than it had the last time Axel talked to him two months ago. It was still the same sly tone ever full of mischief.

Axel felt a grin growing on his face, "Hey brother, I hear you're getting hitched."

"You heard right," Axel could hear the smirk in Reno's voice. "So you got the invitation?"

"I did." Axel moved from his front door to the living room of his apartment and settled himself down on the couch.

"Well, there's no getting out of coming, you're the best man."

Axel sighed heavily into the phone in mock annoyance, "I suppose if I really have to…"

Reno gave a short laugh, "Just get your ass down here."

Axel shook his head, smiling as he heard the click of the phone when his brother hung up. Sighing and standing up, he began mentally preparing himself for the trip back to his hometown.

**A/N Yup, it's really short, but it was just a fleeting idea that I wanted to get out fast before it flew away. Reviews are good for the soul.........**


	2. Chapter 2

**Disclaimer: **Not mine.

**Chapter 2**

Wasting no time, Axel had his bags backed and was at the airport. Though he hated Twilight Town with a passion, he loved his family and would do anything for them, even if it meant returning to that God forsaken town.

The flight wasn't that long, only three hours, though when you're riding Coach next to an overweight business man with horrible body odor, three hours seems an eternity. When Axel finally landed at the Hollow Bastion International Airport he then had to hop on a bus to the train station that would take him back to his hometown. It would all be worth it though, to see Reno again. He was starting to think that he really ought to visit more.

Arriving at the Twilight Town Train Station left Axel with a strange sense of déjà vu. Last time he had been here, he had been on his way out of town for good. Or so he had thought.

The station, like the rest of town, was small and somewhat in need of maintenance. It brought memories rushing back to Axel's mind. _Happiness. Laughter. Anger. Fear. Sadness. _But that was all in the past; there was no reason to dig all that back up now.

It didn't really hit Axel that he wasn't in the city anymore until he tried to hail a cab to no result. Sighing, he hoisted his black duffle bag onto his shoulder and resigned himself to walking through town to get to his childhood home.

Looking around and taking in the sight of his hometown, he realized that nothing had changed here at all. The post office still needed a new coat of paint, the ice cream shop still served "dollar scoops" on Tuesday nights, and Mr. Wilson apparently still sat outside Mickey's Diner reading yesterday's newspaper a day late. Some things never changed, no matter how much Axel wanted them to.

Making his way through the town's center, Axel kept his head down, trying to avoid talking to anyone when he just wanted peace.

"Axel?!" Axel's head shot up at his name, and he looked around for the source of the shout. Just ahead of where he was now standing still was a man with dirty blond hair spiked into a mohawk in the front, and left flowing to his shoulders in the back.

"Demyx?" He looked almost exactly the same as Axel remembered him, slightly taller, but other than that there appeared to be no change.

Demyx ran up to Axel and threw his arms around him for a quick hug, before Axel pushed him off. "Come on, Dem, give me a break."

Demyx backed off and grinned sheepishly. "Sorry, got a little overexcited. I wondered if you'd be coming back for the wedding."

"Of course I'd come back for it, Reno's my brother." Axel said in mockingly offended voice.

Grin slipping a bit, Demyx muttered, "Some of us weren't sure you'd be willing to."

Axel frowned, "Who's us?"

Quickly backtracking to avoid naming names Demyx said, "Well, you never visited or called, anyone but Reno that is, and you never answered letters or returned messages. I guess some of us just thought you were done with everyone here."

Somewhat ashamed of his actions, Axel let out a light sigh. "Dem, it wasn't that I was done with you or anyone else here… it was just hard. I didn't open any of those letters, or listen to the messages; I just needed to figure life out without interruptions."

Demyx's face fell into a frown, "It was hard…" he said slowly. "I don't really know how hard it was for you; because I haven't seen or heard from you since you left, but did you ever stop and think of how hard it was for the people you left behind?" His voice had filled with accusation, a tone Axel had never heard from his once close friend.

Axel didn't know how to answer and looked past Demyx's shoulder, avoiding eye contact, though as soon as he glanced that way, his heart stopped dead in his chest.

A boy with sweeping blond hair, and bright blue eyes was making his way down the sidewalk on the opposite side of the street. Demyx noticed Axel's blank stare and wide eyes, and turned his head to see what had made him go into apparent shock.

"Ah," Demyx sighed in sad understanding. "You pretty much broke him, you know."

Axel finally snapped out of his daze as the boy turned a corner and walked behind a building. "How… how is he?"

"Slightly better than he has been for the past few years. There were a few close calls when we didn't think he'd make it, but…"

Axel stared at Demyx with confusion in his eyes. "What do you mean 'didn't think he'd make it?'"

Demyx glanced at him both with pity and slight anger. "You decide to stick around, or at least make contact once in a while, maybe someone will let you know."

Axel had no reply to that, and just looked down at the ground, once more ashamed of his actions.

"I gotta run, but I'm sure I'll see you around." Demyx shot Axel a quick grin, showing that he had no lasting hard feelings, before taking off, leaving Axel in the center of town with his luggage and thoughts.

**A/N Sorry about the long wait, I suck at updating on a regular basis, but the next chapter is already partially written, so bear with me. Please drop a review!**


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